Gardner to Enter Greco-Roman Hall of Champions

Former Husker All-American Rulon Gardner will add another distinguished honor to his athletic career as the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum has announced he will be inducted into the Alan & Gloria Rice Greco-Roman Hall of Champions on Saturday, Oct. 9, 2010 in Minneapolis.

The most decorated American Greco-Roman wrestler of all-time, Gardner's achievement as a member of the Alan & Gloria Rice Greco-Roman Hall of Champions will be on display in the Dan Gable Museum in Waterloo, Iowa. The Jim and Olive Morgan family will also be given the first Greco-Roman Legacy Award after their sons won a combined 10 national Greco-Roman titles and competed in two Olympics.

"Inducting Rulon into the Greco-Roman Hall of Champions is a great recognition for a great champion and his five peers," said Rice, a former Big Ten champion and All-American at the University of Minnesota. "Many people thought that no American could ever triumph in this style of wrestling. Now the world recognizes the capacities of our great country to produce great champions."

Gardner shocked the world at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, defeating legendary Russian Alexander Karelin in the finals of the superheavyweight division. Karelin had won 12 World and Olympic titles up to that point. Gardner also won the 2001 World Championships and also captured bronze at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Gardner's upset helped the former Husker earn numerous prestigious honors, including the 2001 Jesse Owens Award, a 2001 ESPY (U.S. Male Olympic Athlete of the Year) and the 2001 United States Olympic Committee's Sportsman of the Year honor.

At Nebraska, Gardner was a 1993 All-American after he finished fourth in the heavyweight division at the NCAA Championships, helping the Huskers to a third-place team finish. A native of Afton, Wyo., Gardner lettered two seasons for the Big Red after he transferred to Nebraska from Ricks Junior College in Rexburg, Idaho, where he was an NJCAA national champion (1991) and two-time All-American (1990-91).

Gardner will join an elite group of wrestlers in the Greco-Roman Hall of Champions, as last year's inaugural class included Olympic champions Steve Fraser and Jeff Blatnick and World champions Mike Houck, Dennis Hall and Joe Warren. This past June, Gardner was inducted as a Distinguished Member into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Okla.

The induction into the Alan & Gloria Rice Greco-Roman Hall of Champions will take place at the Christensen Center Commons on the campus of Augsburg College in Minneapolis. Festivities begin at 5:00 p.m. with a reception. Dinner, awards presentation and autograph session will follow. Tickets are $40 and can be purchased online at www.dgm-nwhof.ticketleap.com or by calling the Dan Gable Museum at 319-233-0745.